Clinical Trial: Testing the Use of Chemotherapy After Surgery for High-Risk Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Clinical Trial: Testing the Use of Chemotherapy After Surgery for High-Risk Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Clinical Trials and Research, Treatment
An interesting trial centred on SW USA.   The use of CAPTEM following surgery in high-risk pancreatic NETs (G2/G3 well-differentiated).  Also includes the use of NETest at 3 time points, which is very interesting considering the recent withdrawal of Chromogranin A from US NET Guidelines.  (Read about NETest here). Randomized Phase II Trial of Postoperative Adjuvant Capecitabine and Temozolomide versus Observation in High-Risk Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (S2104) is a recently activated National Clinical Trials Network randomized phase II trial designed to compare CAPTEM chemotherapy versus observation following resection of pNETs (see Figure 2). Patients with well-differentiated grade 2 or 3 (Ki-67 up to 55%) pNETS with a Zaidi score of ≥3 who underwent resection (or ablation) for either localized disease with or without up to five liver metastases are eligible for…
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Clinical Trial: PRRT and Chemo combination therapy

Clinical Trial: PRRT and Chemo combination therapy

Clinical Trials and Research
Update 2022:  Trial complete.  Results:The final results of this trial were presented at ASCO 2022 where it was concluded as follows:"CONTROL NETs is the first randomized trial to demonstrate efficacy for PRRT in pNETs, in addition to a standard of care. Extended follow up confirms durable CAPTEM/PRRT activity, with superior PFS in pNETs. Late haematologic toxicity was seen in both mNET PRRT arms but was not higher with additional CAPTEM. The activity of CAPTEM/PRRT in pNETs should be tested in the phase III setting" - click here to read the abstract. Combination treatments are common in chemotherapy, but this trial was different as it effectively combined the use of different therapies both with their own toxicity risks, albeit low in each therapy type.  The use of PRRT and chemo (in particular…
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Chemotherapy for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Chemotherapy for Neuroendocrine Cancer

Treatment
Edited and checked December 2022 One of the unusual aspects of Neuroendocrine Cancer is that chemotherapy is not normally considered as a 'standard' or first-line treatment, unlike many other cancers. One exception is high grade (Grade 3) where it is very often a first and/or second-line therapy. This is particularly the case with poorly differentiated Neuroendocrine disease, by default labelled as Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (NEC). Many people think Chemotherapy has a short life span due to recent advances in medical science, some citing Immunotherapy as its replacement. However, it's far too early to write off chemotherapy which is still used in many scenarios and remains a tool in the arsenal of treatments for many cancer types and is predicted to do for some time yet. See more informed reporting about this…
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